The process for electrochemically producing aluminum from alumina is over 100 years old. Throughout its history, researchers have known that the efficiency of an alumina reduction cell is related to the distribution of electric current within the cell. Thus, in designing an alumina reduction cell, evenness of current distribution is a primary concern.
Even with this known concern for current distribution, there has been heretofore no known method for monitoring alumina reduction cells during production to observe changes in current distribution with changes in time and cell adjustments. It is thus one primary objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for monitoring current distribution in an alumina reduction cell at any moment in time. It is also an objective of the present invention to observe changes in current distribution with changing conditions in the cell and to control the current distribution by adjusting the cell to provide an optimum current distribution.